ATI's Nucleus RTOS Integrates with Xilinx's FPGA Soft Processor Core

9/16/2003 - Accelerated Technology®, the Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics Corporation, and Xilinx, Inc. have collaborated to announce support for MicroBlazeTM, the industry's fastest field-programmable gate array- (FPGA) based soft processor from Xilinx, with the release of the NucleusTM Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) from Mentor Graphics. MicroBlaze core developers in the networking, telecommunication, data communication and consumer markets now have access to a complete family of RTOS products from which to build their embedded application. For more information on the Nucleus software and MicroBlaze solution, visit Mentor Graphics booth #1201 at the Embedded Systems Conference in Boston for a live demonstration beginning Sept. 16.

The Nucleus RTOS from Accelerated Technology (AT) is highly optimized to provide the most efficient foundation for an embedded application. A widely implemented RTOS, Nucleus software provides a complete family of embedded software products fully scalable to the customer's needs. The Nucleus RTOS, integrated with the MicroBlaze processor, provides access to embedded designers who have standardized on the Nucleus RTOS while accelerating the adoption of a lower cost, high-performance programmable embedded solution.

"The Nucleus RTOS is very widely used in several embedded applications that can benefit from the power and versatility of the MicroBlaze architecture," said Mark Aaldering, senior director of the IP Division at Xilinx. "We believe that the combination of the two will help the embedded community take advantage of the high-performance features of the MicroBlaze core in our FPGAs and use it to design the next generation of embedded applications for key markets segments such as consumer, automotive and communications."

"The new generation of 32-bit soft cores need good embedded software support to give fast time to market for embedded designers," said Robert Day, director of marketing, Mentor Graphics Embedded Systems Division. "The pairing of the MicroBlaze soft processor core with the fast, efficient Nucleus RTOS and associated middleware, and its source code, no-royalty business model makes developing embedded designs on time a reality."

MicroBlaze developers can extend their embedded application by using a range of Nucleus products including the Nucleus NET TCP/IP networking suite and the Nucleus FILE file management system. All Nucleus components for MicroBlaze are available under the standard "source code, no royalty" model, which has become very compelling for embedded developers designing a world of different applications.

The MicroBlaze core is the current performance leader in FPGA-based soft processors, delivering more than 125 D-MIPS at 150 MHz in the Virtex-II Pro FPGA or 68 DMIPS at 85 MHz in the Spartan-3 FPGA. MicroBlaze-based embedded systems in Virtex-II Pro and Spartan-3 FPGAs, allows designers to take advantage of the price and performance to design applications for their end markets. The Nucleus RTOS has been validated on reference platforms that include the MicroBlaze core. The reference platforms include the Memec Design Virtex-II MB1000 development board which is available in North America through Insight Memec.

Pricing and Availability
Available now, licenses for the Nucleus RTOS start at U.S. $12,495. For more information, please contact Accelerated Technology at 800-468-6853 or info@acceleratedtechnology.com.

MicroBlaze 32-bit soft processor core is available as part of the Xilinx Embedded Development Kit which is priced at $495 from Xilinx and its partners. In addition to the MicroBlaze core, the Embedded Development Kit includes a comprehensive set of system tools to design an embedded application in a Xilinx FPGA. MicroBlaze is also available in VHDL source code and is priced at $4,995. For more information on MicroBlaze and the Embedded Development Kit from Xilinx, visit www.xilinx.com/processor.

About Mentor Graphics
Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq: MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $650 million and employs approximately 3,500 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com.